3A Boys Start
(photos by Dan McCauley)
The battle is on for the team title
All that matters to Westminster is one thing, a Dub or 'Victory', be it by 1 point or if its by 50. Well, on Saturday afternoon it ended up being 2 points over higher ranked and Region champ Pace. Its a culture of winning that has existed for dating back to as early as 1987, when legendary Coach Paul Koshua coached 24 individual state champions and 10 state champion teams and that tradition continues on with the Cats' climbing to the top of the Podium once again.
Jones & Jaynes duel
Race Breakdown:
Its Pace vs Westminster for all the marbles and one could cut tension with a knife. As expected, a big pack of harriers (12-15) were in close contact after cresting Elementary Hill. With Zach Roe, Andrew Jones, upstart Avery Janes of SE Bulloch. Jones or Jaynes? not sure which, split the Mile at 5:07 per the announcer. Beginning loop 2, Jones of North Hall had assumed a 30m lead over the surprising Jaynes.
This was followed by a pack of Pace, Westminster and Lovett runners. At Mile 2, Jones split 10:21 with Jaynes dogging him closely at 10:24. North's Jones stretched his lead to 40m over Jaynes, but a pack of 6 began closing fast racing with the team title very much up for grabs.
Champ Andrew Jones
Andrew Jones took the overall win clocking a 16:18 with Southeast Bulloch's Avery Jaynes having the race of his life, holding on to 2nd at 16:30. It was too close to call who was going to take the team win, as AAA schools sprinted down the finish hill. But, Westminster came out on top by 2 points, as it couldn't have gotten much closer having a :01 faster team average and :03 better 1-5 split over Pace. Zachary Roe led Westminster to the team title placing 5th overall at 16:44, with Matthew Fernando coming in 9th at 16:56 making the All-State team. Individuals also earning this honor were George Adams of Pace 3rd overall (16:37), Jackson Borden of Lovett 4th (16:42), Edward Blaha of Pace 6th (16:48), Samuel Garringer of Hart County 7th (16:50), Matthew Schroeder of Jefferson 8th (16:55) and Colin Kilgore from Dawson County 10th (17:03)
